Submitted photo Southwest Minnesota State University’s Seth Young prepares a meal at the Research Chef Association conference’s student product development competition in St. Louis, Missouri, last week.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — A group of Southwest Minnesota State University culinary students traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, last week for the Research Chef Association (RCA) conference, and placed first in the student product development competition.

“It went very smoothly,” said SMSU Associate Professor of Culinology Dr. Soma Mukherjee, who accompanied the students on the trip. “Students showed their ability to meet the national standard of participation in academic, as well as industrial standards.”

The RCA conference is a culinology expo that brings together nearly 700 members for the opportunity to network, collaborate and partake in demonstrations. The conference was sold out for a second year in a row.

There also was a competition, to which the SMSU students were able to flawlessly execute and earn the top award.

The students prepared a “G8 Gnocchi Bowl” that consisted of 41 grams of protein, three components of white meat chicken raised without antibiotics, gnocchi made with ancient grain farro flour, and two types of locally grown sweet and russet potatoes. It also included a multigrain portion of edamame and red bell pepper, along with being topped with a protein-rich gravy.

The meal was initially made as a frozen meal kit, and part of the competition evaluation was studying the similarities, or differences, between the fresh and frozen.

“The competition experience is great. It’s a vigorously screened competition based on many criteria by two different teams of judges,” Mukherjee said. “The first team anonymously screened the proposal and evaluated the proposal. The second team judged the onsite competition, and compared the frozen and freshly cooked meal fit.”

This was also Mukherjee’s first year guiding and coaching the SMSU students for the culinology competition.

“The first round of selection was based on a written proposal,” Mukherjee said. “Our team was selected among three other teams for the final stage of the competition.”

The RCA specializes in integrating food science and culinary arts for product development, and collaborates between chefs and food science professionals while welcoming in students pursuing a career in culinary arts.

“Students gained excellent experience in producing industrial-grade frozen meals using knowledge of culinology and food science. Attending the conference also gave them an idea of how they can excel in their career path in this field,” Mukherjee said. “They had a chance to meet many research scientists working in this field. They attended all keynote speakers’ talks, and many break-out discussion sessions at the conference.”